Could popular beauty products be making you sick?

Monday

May 13, 2019 at 2:54 PMMay 13, 2019 at 2:55 PM

Ingredients found in soaps, lotions, shampoos and other beauty products could be making you sick, researchers claim.

Now, lawmakers are taking action. Houston TV station KPRC reports a bill before the U.S. Senate would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review five chemicals commonly used in beauty products each year.

The bill has bipartisan support, KPRC says.

The first five chemicals set to be reviewed are diazolidinyl urea, diethyl phthalate, methylene glycol/formaldehyde, propylparaben and quaternium-15.

Dr. Rick Troendle, a chemist at the University of North Florida, found propylparaben, for instance, in sunscreen and facial cleanser during a recent trip to a Walmart store. Critics say the chemical has "estrogenic activity" and has been linked to certain types of breast cancer.

The FDA, however, says the chemicals appear in such small amounts in most products and are therefore safe to use.

“Everything has a trade-off to it whether it's healthy or unhealthy," Troendle told the station. "It's levels.”

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